SCOTUS Party Of The Century

Oilcan Harry’s will be celebrating the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality and the 46th anniversary of the Stonewall riots with their “Party of the Century” TODAY with 46¢ drinks all day and all night long. Oilcan Harry’s, 211 W 4th St., Austin TX 78701. 2 PM. FREE.

Texas For Marriage Decision Day Celebration

At 6 PM, attendees will gather at Cathedral of Hope for an inspirational rally, celebration of love, and discussion about what the ruling means for same-gender loving couples, families, people of faith/faith-free people and how the decision compels us moving forward. At 7:30 PM, the group will march on the sidewalk down Cedar Springs to the Legacy of Love Monument at the Oak Lawn Triangle. Get your signs and noisemakers ready for this exciting moment where we march in solidarity with one another. At 8 PM, everyone will gather around the Legacy of Love Monument for a festive display of what the ruling means to the LGBTQ community, the people we love, and hear a call to action for what remains ahead.Cathedral of Hope UCC Dallas, 5910 Cedar Springs Rd., Dallas TX 75235. 6 PM. Legacy of Love Monument at the Oak Lawn Triangle, Oak Lawn Ave. & Cedar Springs Rd., Dallas TX 75219. 7:30 PM.

Chase is the Founder and Creative Director of therepubliq.com, Host and Executive Producer of OutCast Austin, an award-winning LGBT weekly radio program on KOOP 91.7 FM in Austin. In 2011, he was named the Critics Pick for 'Most Gaybiquitous' in the Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin. In 2012, CultureMap Austin named him one of Austin's Top LGBT bloggers and he received the AGLCC's Chamber Award for Social Media Diva.

Austin PRIDE Announces Date for 2019 Festival & Parade

The Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation, the non-profit organization that manages and organizes Austin’s PRIDE celebration, has announced that the 29th annual Austin PRIDE Festival and Parade will take place on SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2019. This year’s theme is Boogie Wonderland.

The festival will return to Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach in Town Lake Metropolitan Park (a/k/a Fiesta Gardens) from 11 AM – 6 PM and feature entertainment, games and activities, drinks, food, family zone, and 140+ booths featuring local non-profits organizations and businesses. Tickets on the day of the event will be $20 for adults (18+), $10 for youth (7-17 years old), and FREE for children six and under. Discounted advanced tickets will go on sale in the near future at www.austinpride.org.

The parade will step off at 8 PM. The route through downtown Austin remains unchanged from previous years; starting at the south gate of the Texas State Capitol Building, heading down Congress Avenue, then turning on 4th Street going through the Warehouse District before ending at Republic Square. The parade is free and open to the public.

The parade and festival are projected to bring in over 400,000 attendees, making it the largest single day event based on attendance in Austin. By comparison, the Austin City Limits Music Festival has 75,000 attendees and South by Southwest has 285,000 attendees.

The “bathroom bill” won’t be back this session, its loudest champion suggested Wednesday morning.

At a Governor’s Mansion press conference on the second day of this year’s legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who last session was the top state leader championing the measure, which would have regulated the use of certain public facilities for transgender Texans — suggested there’s no need to bring back the divisive proposal that headlined the last legislative year in 2017, but failed to reach the governor’s desk.

“When you win the battle, you don’t have to fight the battle again,” Patrick said, sitting beside Gov. Greg Abbott and recently elected Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton. “I think it’s been settled, and I think we’ve won.”

Without citing evidence, Patrick claimed that the school district behavior necessitating the measure has “stopped.”

“Sometimes a bill doesn’t pass, but you win on the issue,” Patrick said.

The bathroom bill fight kicked off in the wake of an Obama-era policy guideline that directed public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity. One version of Texas’ “bathroom bill” measure would have required that individuals, including transgender men and women, use the facilities with the gender identity on their birth certificates. Other, similar proposals would have prevented local governments and school districts from enacting or enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances allowing transgender individuals to use the facilities that align with their gender identity.

In the months since the 2017 legislative sessions, Patrick has made similar suggestions that the issue no longer requires the Legislature’s attention. But his answer carried extra weight Wednesday as he and the state’s other top two leaders projected a unified front, promising to tackle bread-and-butter policy reforms like school finance, property tax reform and disaster recovery. Any lawmaker can file a bill, but if the measure doesn’t have support from the state’s top leaders, it’s unlikely to make it very far.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

#TXLege86 LGBTQ+ Watch

The 86th Texas Legislature opens this week and, so far, no bathroom bills, but what we do have are several LGBTQ-related bills, all by Democratic lawmakers.

State Senators José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) and José R. Rodríguez (D-El Paso) filed a bill to revise statutes that referred to “homosexual conduct” as an unacceptable lifestyle and a “criminal offense.”

State Senator José R. Rodríguez and fellow Democrat from El Paso State Representative Joe Moody, have filed bills to repeal Texas’ anti-sodomy law that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 with Lawrence v. Texas, yet still remains on the books.

Whils Senators José R. Rodríguez, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) and John Whitmire (D-Houston) are calling for “a constitutional amendment to repeal the constitutional provision providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Representatives Jes­sica Far­rar (D-Houston) and Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio) along with Senators José R. Rodríguez, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) and John Whitmire (D-Houston) are all sponsoring bills that would prohibit “certain discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression” in housing, employment and public accommodations “providing an administrative penalty; creating a criminal offense.”

Representative Celia Israel (D-Austin) has filed a bill that would ban “conversion therapy” on children and allow state agencies with regulatory authority over certain mental health providers to take disciplinary action against providers who practice conversion therapy on Texans under 18 years of age

State Senator José R. Rodríguez has filed a bill through would streamline the name and gender change process which will benefit the transgender community.

Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin) has filed a bill that would add condoms to the state’s list of items that are tax-exempt.

History made today in Texas as five LGBTQ representatives are sworn in. Congratulations to (left to right) Rep. Celia…

Three new out LGBTQ lawmakers in the Capitol join Celia Israel and Mary González (D-Clint) after their wins in the mid-term elections: Reps. Jessica González (D-Dallas), Julie Johnson (D-Irving) and Erin Zwiener (D-Dripping Springs).

HOUSE BILLS

HB 188Status: Filed – 11/12/2018Sponsor: Rep. Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio) – District 123Relating to the prohibition of housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression and to the enforcement of that prohibition.

HB 595Status: Filed – 12/27/2018Sponsor: Rep. John “Jon” E. Rosenthal (D-Houston) – District 135Relating to making certain false alarms or reports because of bias or prejudice; increasing a criminal penalty “against a group identified by race, color, disability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, gender, or sexual preference or by status as a peace officer or judge.”

SENATE BILLS

SB 114Status: FiledSponsor: Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) – District 26 Relating to the repeal of statutes regarding the criminality or unacceptability of homosexual conduct and to the recognition of certain same-sex relationship statuses.

SB 154Status: Filed – 11/12/2018Co-sponsor: Sen. José R. Rodríguez (D-El Paso) – District 29Relating to a change of name and sex for certain persons and the issuance of associated vital records and documentation; authorizing a fee.

SJR 9Status: Filed – 11/12/2018Co-sponsor: Sen. José R. Rodríguez (D-El Paso) – District 29Co-sponsor: Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) – District 20Co-sponsor: Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) – District 15Proposing a constitutional amendment to repeal the constitutional provision providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

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You're probably gonna need a martini to recover from the weekend, so grab your friends and join us for #MartiniMonday and some C. B. T. !
Professor CupCake, PhDD is back

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You’re probably gonna need a martini to recover from the weekend, so grab your friends and join us for #MartiniMonday and some C. B. T. !

Professor CupCake, PhDD is back with a new overhead projector to bring you CUPCAKE BAR TRIVIA in The Lounge along with your favorite TA (and Happy Hour bartender) Bobby Cook at Rain on 4th every Monday from 7-9 PM.

There are prizes to be won … and plenty of tricks up her sleeve …… remember class starts at 7 PM SHARP!

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Please join us for our first Lesbians Who Tech & Allies networking event of 2019. Kick off the new year with your Lesbians Who Tech squad!
This venue is accessible to

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Please join us for our first Lesbians Who Tech & Allies networking event of 2019. Kick off the new year with your Lesbians Who Tech squad!

This venue is accessible to wheelchair users with ADA compliant entrance and restrooms. No ID Required. Read our Code of Conduct: Lesbianswhotech.org/code-of-conduct

About Lesbians Who Tech + Allies

Lesbians Who Tech + Allies is the largest LGBTQ technology community in the world — committed to visibility, intersectionality, and changing the face of technology. The 40,000 non-binary, LGBTQ women, queer women of color (and our allies) in tech who make up our community come from every background and live in over 40+ cities worldwide. Over 5,000 women and non-binary people in tech attend our San Francisco Summit, making us the largest professional LGBTQ event in the world and the largest event for women in tech in California. Our programmatic work includes a coding scholarship for non-binary and LGBTQ women called the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund, a mentoring program, Bring a Lesbian to Work Day, and a leadership program — #LWTSQUAD — focused on supporting our members as they move into senior leadership roles and onto corporate boards. We’re not just creating communities; we’re pushing the tech sector to be more inclusive and changing the face of the entire tech industry.

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Join us on Saturday evening of the 26th of January for our Gala Dinner at the JW Marriott Austin.
The Human Rights Campaign Austin 2018 Gala Dinner, Auction, and Afterparty brings

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Join us on Saturday evening of the 26th of January for our Gala Dinner at the JW Marriott Austin.

The Human Rights Campaign Austin 2018 Gala Dinner, Auction, and Afterparty brings together hundreds of HRC members, partners, friends, family and allies for an evening of celebration and inspiration in Austin, TX. Featuring a cocktail reception, an extensive silent auction, an elegant dinner, live entertainment, and thought-provoking speakers and guests, the event consistently attracts some of the state’s top figures in politics and entertainment.

The evening attire is black tie.

Want to be more involved? You can get more information on sponsorships, tickets, becoming a table captain, volunteering, and the silent auction at www.hrcatx.org

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You're probably gonna need a martini to recover from the weekend, so grab your friends and join us for #MartiniMonday and some C. B. T. !
Professor CupCake, PhDD is back

Details

You’re probably gonna need a martini to recover from the weekend, so grab your friends and join us for #MartiniMonday and some C. B. T. !

Professor CupCake, PhDD is back with a new overhead projector to bring you CUPCAKE BAR TRIVIA in The Lounge along with your favorite TA (and Happy Hour bartender) Bobby Cook at Rain on 4th every Monday from 7-9 PM.

There are prizes to be won … and plenty of tricks up her sleeve …… remember class starts at 7 PM SHARP!